How to Start a Band
So you want to start a band, you want to keep a band, or you want to pursue a musical career in a band? You must know that this is not going to be easy. You have to work hard, keep a beat, and even harder… be social! All kidding aside, you are going to need to at least know where to start. And what better way to learn, than from someone in a band!
The first step is to assemble a comfortable amount of people to be your “band mates” in your band. The ideal amount of people depends on the type of band/ people in the band. The amount of people depends on how many musical opinions you want, the more people there are, the more opinions that could go together. But be careful because they could also go against each other.
Now that you have your band mates sorted out, let’s get to meetings. Meetings are very rarely going to be fully attended by all band members, especially when you are just starting out. But, the biggest thing that you and your band members have to do is have a scheduled day for practice and a place to practice that you can all agree on.
At this point you should have 1-2 meetings with your band and still have no original songs on the set list, this is natural. Your band is experimenting, doing covers, and trying to figure out what direction the music they make is going to go. Music takes time, so be patient.
Now comes the hard portion, getting rid of unneeded band members that may be hindering your process. This can be the most difficult step, you should never do alone. Your band as a whole should agree that the band member is unneeded/wanted and find a nice passive way to take them out of the band. One way to say this is to say “we think you should take a break for now.” This shows that the interlude of being taken out of the band is not permanent, but shows the person that there is something wrong. Whether with their behavior, or something they can’t control, such as family or emotional issues that are effecting the band.
When your band begins you will be barely known, and inexperienced. But that is a hurdle a lot of new bands go through. There will be rough patches and times where you want to throw down your instrument and quit. But, if you tough it out, you will find that you have gained a new skill, friends, pastimes, and even a career if you work hard enough.
